2. Cellular Concept
• Proposed by Bell Labs 1971
• Geographic Service divided into
smaller “cells”
• Neighboring cells do not use same
set of frequencies to prevent
interference
• Often approximate coverage
area of a cell by an idealized
hexagon
• Increase system capacity
by frequency reuse.
2
3. Cellular Networks
• Propagation models represent cell as a circular area
• Approximate cell coverage with a hexagon - allows easier analysis
• Frequency assignment of F MHz for the system
• The multiple access techniques translates F to T traffic channels
• Cluster of cells K = group of adjacent cells which use all of the systems frequency
assignment
3
4. Cellular Concept
• Why not a large radio tower and large service area?
– Number of simultaneous users would be very limited
(to total number of traffic channels T)
– Mobile handset would have greater power requirement
• Cellular concept - small cells with frequency reuse
– Advantages
• lower power handsets
• Increases system capacity with frequency reuse
– Drawbacks:
• Cost of cells
• Handoffs between cells must be supported
• Need to track user to route incoming call/message
4
5. Cellular Concept (cont)
• Let T = total number of duplex channels
K cells = size of cell cluster (typically 4, 7,12, 21)
N = T/K = number of channels per cell
• For a specific geographic area, if clusters are replicated M
times, then total number of channels
– system capacity = M x T
– Choice of K determines distance between cells using
the same frequencies – termed co-channel cells
– K depends on how much interference can be
tolerated by mobile stations
5
6. Cellular Design Reuse Pattern
• Example: cell cluster size K = 7,
frequency reuse factor = 1/7,
assume T = 490 total channels, N
= T/K = 70 channels per cell
• Assume T = 490 total channels,
• K = 7, N = 70 channels/cell
• Clusters are replicated M=3 times
• System capacity = 3x490 = 1470
total channels
6
7. Cluster Size
• From geometry of grid of
hexagons only
certain values of K are possible if
replicating
cluster without gaps
• K = i2 + ij + j2 where i and j are
non-negative
integers
7
8. Cellular Concepts
(Co-Channel Cells)
• To find co-channel neighbors of a cell, move i cells perpendicular to the
hexagon boundry, turn 60 degrees counterclockwise, and move j cells
(example: i=2, j=2, K=12)
• In order to maximize capacity, Co-channel cells are placed as far apart as
possible for a given cluster size
• The relationship among the distance between the Co-channel cells, D, the
cluster size K and the cell radius R is given as;
D/R = √3K
8
10. Frequency Reuse
• Relate Cluster size K to the Co-channel interference C/I at the edge of the
cell
• In general signal-to-noise ratio can be written as;
Sr= Pdesired / Σi Pinterference,i
• Pdesired is the signal from the desired BS and Pinterference,i is the signal from the ith
undesired BS
• The signal strength falls as some power of α called power-distance
gradient or path loss component
• If Pt is the tranmitted power, d is the distance then, received power will be
Pr=Pt L d-α
Where, d is in meters
L is the constant depending on frequency
10
11. Frequency Assignment
• Aim: To increase the number of available channels without compromising
the quality of service e.g.
1) Efficient Utilization of Spectrum
2) Increase Capacity
3) Minimize Interference
• Two Types
– Fixed Channel Allocation (FCA)
• The number of traffic channels is fixed. If all channels are busy a
new call to or from a mobile will be blocked (rejected by BS)
– Dynamic Channel Allocation (DCA)
• The BS requests a channel for the MSC when needed
• The MSC allocates the channel taking into account
11
12. Frequency Assignment (cont)
a) likelihood of future blocking within the cell
b) the frequencies of use of the candidate channel
c) the reuse distance of the channel
• The dynamic channel assignment reduces the probability of blocking
(the number of available channels to a cell is increased)
• Increase in the complexity of the MSC which has to collect data on;
a) Channel Occupancy
b) Traffic distribution
c) Radio signal strength of all channels
• Cell borrowing technique: a case of FCA in which a cell is allowed to
borrow a channel from its neighbour under MSC’s supervision
12
13. Handoff Strategies
• When a mobile moves from one cell to the next during a call the MSC
automatically transfers the call to a new channel belonging to the next
cell. This operation is called HANDOFF
• Handoff is similar to an initial call request
• The handoff has the priority over a new call to avoid call cut off in the mid
conversation
• In reality, a fraction of total channels can be reserved for handoff requests
in each cell
• The handoff must be successful, as infrequent as possible and
unnoticeable to the user
• The minimum acceptable level is establised for the received signal to
maintain the call. The handoff threshold is slightly above that level. The
margin is Δ= Phandoff - Pmin
13
16. Handoff (cont)
• If the margin is too large there are too frequent and unnecessary handoffs
which burden the MSC
• If the margin is too small, there may be not enough time to complete the
handoff, particularly when the mobile moves fast
• The time a mobile spends in a cell without handoff is called dwell time
• For high speed mobiles, large umbrella cells with wide range are used
• For low speed mobile, microcells with small coverage area are used
• The speed is estimated by the BS or MSC from average signal strength
16
17. Interference and System Capacity
• Interference is a limiting factor in the performance of cellular systems
• Co-Channel interference (CCI) is caused by signals at the same frequency
• Adjacent channel interference (ACI) is caused by signals from
neighbouring frequencies
• In traffic channels, interference causes crosstalk from undesired users
• In control channels, interference causes errors which result in wrong
instructions
• To reduce co-channel interference, co-channel cells must be separated
sufficiently
17
18. Co-Channel Interference (CCI)
• Let R be the radius of a cell and let D be the distance between the centers
of co-channel cells
• The CCI is independent of the transmit power
• By increasing the ratio D/R we reduce CCI
• We define the co-channel frequency reuse ratio as Q=D/R, then for
hexagonal cells, Q=√3K
• By reducing Q
– The cluster size K is reduced
– The systems traffic capacity is increased (the number of channels per
cell is increased)
– CCI is increased
18
19. CCI (cont)
• By increasing Q
– Cluster size K is increased
– The system capacity is decreased
– CCI is decreased
• Mathematically, CCI ratio Calculation
• Let Ni be the number of co-channel cells
• Signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) is;
S/I = S / (ΣNi Ii)
Where S is power from desired BS and li is the power from i-th interferer
BSi
• Let P0 be the received power at a distance d0 from the transmitter.
• The received power of the mobile at the distance d from the transmitter is
Pr=P0 (d/d0)- n
19
20. CCI Ratio (cont)
• Where α is the path loss component and n=2,3,4
• In dBm we have
Pr (dBm) = P0 (dBm)-10 α log 10 (d/d0)
• The least value of desired signal S is at the edge of
the cell, which is R, thus
S= P0 (R/d0)-n
• For hexagonal cellular systems, most of the CCI
results from the first tier
• Let Di be the distance from the mobile to the i-th BS.
Assuming all BSs transmit the same power P0, we
have
Ii= P0 (Di/d0)-n
• if we assume that Di=D and Ni=6, then
S/I = (D/R)n / Ni = Qn/ Ni= Qn/6
20
21. Adjacent Channel Interference
• ACI is caused by signals from neighbouring frequencies
• Particularly severe when the mobile is far away from its BS and very near
to an adjacent channel transmitter (near-far effect)
• Also happens when a mobile close to BS uses a channel which is adjacent
to a very weak mobile transmitting to the same BS
• ACI can be reduced by careful frequency assignment
• As a cell only has a fraction of channels, these channels do not have to be
adjacent in frequency
• ACI is reduced if we maximize the separation between adjacent channels
in a cell
• Power control of all mobiles
21
22. Improving Capacity in Cellular Systems
• Aim: To provide more channels per unit coverage area
• Techniques: Three techniques are used to improve capacity
• SECTORING:
– Use directional antennas to further control the interference and frequency
reuse of channels.
– Examples: Omni, 120O, 60O and 90O
22
23. Sectoring
• The sectoring is done by replacing a single omni-directional antenna with
3 directional antennas (120O sectoring) or with 6 directional antennas (60 O
sectoring)
• In this scheme, each cell is divided into 3 or 6 sectors. Each sector uses a
directional antenna at the BS and is assigned a set of channels.
• The number of channels in each sector is the number of channels in a cell
divided by the number of sectors. The amount of co-channel interferer is
also reduced by the number of sectors.
• Drawbacks:
• Increase the number of antennas at each BS
• The number of handoffs increases when the mobile moves from one
sector to another.
23
24. Cell Splitting
• Cell splitting is the process of splitting a mobile cell into several smaller
cells. This is usually done to make more voice channels available to
accommodate traffic growth in the area covered by the original cell
• If the radius of a cell is reduced from R to R/2, the area of the cell is
reduced from Area to Area/4. The number of available channels is also
increased.
• Cell splitting is usually done on demand; when in a certain cell there is too
much traffic which causes too much blocking of calls. The cell is split into
smaller microcells.
24
26. Cell Splitting Drawbacks
• In practice not all cells are split simultaneously, therefore we may have
cells of different sizes.
• Also the handoff between the cells and microcells has to be taken care off
so that high speed and low speed mobiles are equally served.
• Decreasing cell size results in more handoffs per call and higher
processing load per subscriber. Thus, the handoff rate will increase
exponentially
26
27. Exercise
Considering this radio coverage, could you identify the topology of the different areas?
20
20 20
40
20
100 60 60 60
20
100
100
20
60 100
100
20
20
20
Figures indicates Base Stations
Erlang capacity
27
28. Solution: Topology of Different Areas
20
20 20
40
20
100 60 60 60
20
100
100
20
60 100
100
Town 20
20
Suburb
Highway 20
Rural
28
